If watching the Detroit Lions beat the New England Patriots was something you didn’t know could happen, you also probably learned something new about first-year head coach Matt Patricia on Sunday night. He has an absolute cannon for an arm.

Early in the second quarter, with the Lions already up 3-0 at Ford Field in Detroit, Patricia was attempting to challenge a play that ultimately resulted in a Kenny Golladay touchdown catch from Matthew Stafford. The crazy part is it looks like Patricia could trot out on the field and throw darts because he launched the challenge flag about a mile.

Patricia, a Sherrill, New York native, played college football at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York. He was a four-year letterman as a center and a guard with the Engineers from 1992-1995.

So the 44-year-old has been out of the game for a little bit, and never was a quarterback, but this was one of the best throws in football the entire weekend.

Although most people will talk about the impressive toss of the challenge flag, it was just important the Detroit Lions beat the New England Patriots, whom Patricia served as the defensive coordinator for from 2012-17 and won three Super Bowl titles with, for his first-ever win as an NFL head coach.

With over 10 years of sports writing experience, Brett has covered some of the top local, regional, and national sporting events in the Heartland for both print and digital platforms. He is a graduate of Kansas State University and resides in Austin, Texas.